Sewing machine



y 27, 1- A. R. MORRILL 2, 43,257

' SEWING MACHINE Filed June 23, 1939 6 Fig.4 1 2 via 40 Invgntoz 44 I 521 40 48 44 4 wa /WM Winess; M] m 4 v Patented May 27, 1941 SEWINGMACHINE Alfred B. Merrill, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United ShoeMachinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. .L, a corporation ofNew Jersey Application June 23, 1939, Serial No. 280,757

6 Claims. (Cl. 112-46) The invention relates to welt sewing machinessuch as are used in the sewing of the inseams of welted shoes, and moreparticularly to the provision of a novel and improved welt feedingdevice for use in a welt sewing machine of the general type in which thestitch forming and work feeding devices are constructed and arranged toimpart a continuous feeding movement to the work. 7

The machine herein disclosed as embodying in a preferred form theseveral features of the invention, is similar to that fully illustratedand described in the prior patent to Morrill No. 1,971,575, dated August28, 1934, having a work piercing needle and a work piercing awl locatedat one side of the work and movable in the line of work feed tocontinuously feed the work, a channel guide movable with the needle toassist in feeding the work, and supporting and actuating mechanisms forthese parts.

In machines of this general description, it has been found that there isa tendency for the welt drawn off from the supply by the continuousaction of the work feeding devices to interfere with the operation ofthe work feed. The dra resistance exerted by the welt, has been foundparticularly injurious during that portion of the sewing cycle in whichthe awl leaves the work, and the needle enters the work, as tending tocause the displacement of the previously formed awl hole with relationto the needle, with resultant tearing of the work and a tendency of theneedle to be deflected from its normal operating path.

Applicant is aware that welt feeding devices have heretofore beenemployed in connection with step feed machines, such devices beingnormally arranged to slacken the welt between the supply and the weltguide as, for example, by flexing the welt laterally against theanchorage provided by the work supporting devices including the presserfoot while the work is held stationary. Welt feeding devices of thisgeneral type operate to supply only such amounts of slack welt as may beneeded from stitch to stitch during the progress of the sewing operationabout the sole margin of the shoe.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a weltfeeding device which may be of the general type referred to, but whichis particularly constructed and adapted to cooperate in a novel mannerwith the stitch forming and work feeding devices to supply such amountsof slack welt as may be needed to insure a smooth and uninterrupted feedof the work in a continuous feed machine during the progress of thesewing operation about the shoe.

With this and other objects in view as may hereinafter appear, aprincipal feature of the invention consists in the provision of meansfor automatically slackening the welt between the work and the weltsupply during the feeding movement of the awl, so that an amount ofslack welt may be available during that portion of the sewing cycle inwhich the awl is withdrawn from the work and the needle enters theperforation previously formed by the awl.

Other features of the invention relate specifically to the constructionand arrangement of the welt feeding devices to operate in the desiredtimed relation to the stitch forming and work feeding devices. In theillustrated construction, the motion of the welt slackening device isdesirably achieved by means of a connection with the cam actuated stoplever of the machine which has a continuously reciprocating idlingmotion during the operation of the machine.

The several features of the invention consist also in the devices,combinations and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed,which together with the advantages to be obtained thereby will bereadily understood by one skilled in the art from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in whichFig. 1 is a view in right side elevation of a portion of the machinehead, only so much of the machine having been illustrated as is believednecessary to illustrate the connection of the present inventiontherewith; Fig. 2 is a detail plan view partly insection illustratingapplicants welt feeding device and the connections for actuating thesame from the stop lever of the machine, this view being taken on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary detail viewssimilar to Fig. 2, but illustrating different positions of the stitchforming and work feeding devices and illustrating the operation of thewelt feeding devices with rela tion thereto. Y

The operating mechanism and stitch forming devices of the continuousfeed welt sewing machine illustrated in the drawing, include a curvedhook needle indicated at 6, an awl 8, a looper ID, a take-up (notshown), a thread finger l2, a welt guide [4, a channel guide It, and aback rest [8. The needle 6 and channel guide It are supported on a slidegenerally indicated at 29 for movement together in the line of feed. Theawl 8 and its supporting lever arm 2| are similarly supported formovement in the line of feed on a slide generally indicated at 22.Inasmuch as the supporting and actuating means for these parts areidentical with those of the construction illustrated and described inthe Morrill patent above referred to, it is believed sufficient to pointout that the feed slide 28 is positively driven from the main cam shaft24 by means of two parallel lever arms, one of which is indicated at 26supported to turn on a vertical stud 28, and arranged to be positivelyactuated by appropriate linkage and cam connections from the main camshaft 24 of the machine, and the slide 22 is similarly actuated by apair of lever arms, one of which is indicated at 29 supported to turn ona pivot stud 3! and arranged to 'be positively actuated by means ofappropriate linkage and cam connections from the cam shaft 24 of themachine,

As in the patent referred to, the awl is a r--v ranged to engage withand to feed the work while the needle is withdrawn and isbeing back fedwith the channel guide. Fig. 2 illustrates the positions taken by theparts at the beginning of the awl feed, and Fig. 3 the positions takenduring the awl feed. The awl is then withdrawn, and the feeding movementof the shoe is continued by the channel guide IS during about 17 ofrevolution of the main cam shaft while both the needle and awl are outof the work, and prior to the engagement of the needle in theperforation formed by the awl, as shown in Fig. 4. The feeding of thework is then continued by both the channel guide and the needle as theawl is back fed to the initial position shown in Fig. 2.

In the illustrated machine, the welt is drawn from a convenient sourceof supply which may be a reel or coil of welting placed on the floornear the base of the machine, passing upwardly over a guide roll 34, andthence to the stitch forming and Work feeding devices. As shown in Fig.1 of the drawing, there is also provided a welt measuring device whichmay be of ordinary construction, and comprises a friction shoe 3% whichis arranged upon stopping the machine to grip the welt and to positivelylimit the amount of welt drawn from the supply by the operator inremoving the shoe from the machine,

In accordance with the present invention, a Welt feeding device isprovided which acts in timed relation to the stitch forming and workfeeding devices to provide a supply of slack welt at the sewing pointduring the awl feed, which is then available during that portion of thesewing cycle when the awl is leaving and the needle enters the work, andwhile the work is being advanced only by the feeding movement of thechannel guide It. This device comprises a U-shaped bracket 46 rigidlysecured to the machine head, and having formed in the arms thereofguiding slots 42 and A l through which the welt passes from the supplyto the idler pulley 34. Located between the arms of the bracketdii-isawelt feeding arm to secured to the lower end of a U-shapedbracket 48 which is pivotally supported on two axially aligned verticalpivot studs 50 and 52. oscillatory movements are imparted to theU-shaped bracket st and welt feeding arm 4% in timed relation to theoperation of the stitch forming and work feeding devices by means of alink 5A which is pivotally connected at one end to a laterally extendingarm 56 formed on the upper end of the U-shaped bracket 48, and at itsother end to one arm of the bellcrank stop lever 58 of the machine.

Inasmuch as the stop motion of the machine is identical with thatdescribed and illustrated in the Morrill patent above referred to, onlyso much of this mechanism will be described as is believed necessary toindicate the connection of the present invention therewith. The stopmotion of the machine comprises a high speed drive including a mainclutch for the machine, and a slow speed reverse drive including asecondary friction clutch and operating connections which are renderedoperative upon release of the starting treadle of the machine todisengage the main clutch and to engage the secondary reverse clutch toarrest and, to reverse the operation of the operating parts, whereuponthe secondary clutch is disengaged to stop the machine in apredetermined angular position with the needle withdrawn from the work.As shown in Fig. 2 of the.drawing, the reverse drive comprises a reversedriving clutch member BE! which is continuously driven throughconnections including a gearBZ formed on the external periphery of theclutch member 60. Cooperating with the clutch member 60 is a drivenclutch member 64, which is keyed to and slidably supported on the driveshaft 24 of the machine. A sleeve cam track 66 formed on the sleeve hubof the driven clutch member 64 is arranged to receive a cam roll 68mounted on a forwardly extending arm of the bell-crank stop lever 58.During normal operation of the machine, the stop lever 58 is permittedto oscillate freely following the path of the cam track 66. In stoppingthe machine, the bell-crank stop lever is arranged to be positivelyconnected to a slide 72 by the insertion of a vertical stop pinsupported thereon, with a corresponding hole in the under side of thelaterally extending arm of the bell-crank 58, thus preventing furthermovement of the bellcrank 58, so that the roll 68 riding in the camtrack 66 will then operate to move the driven clutch element 64 intooperating engagement with the reverse driving clutch member 68. As themain cam shaft 24 is now stopped and reversed by the frictionalengagement of the clutch members 60 and 64, the clutch is againdisengaged to stop the machine in the desired position.

In accordance with the present invention, the idling oscillatorymovement of the bell-crank stop lever 58 during machine operation, isemployed to secure the desired timed relation in the operation of theWelt feed arm 46 to slacken the welt While the awl 8 is engaged with andfeeding the work, and thereafter to release the welt, so that slack weltis available during that portion of the stitch forming and work feedingcycle in which the awl is withdrawn and the needle enters the work, andparticularly during the time when the work is being fed solely by theadvancing movement of the channel guide is in the line of feed.

. The operation of applicants welt feeding device is specificallyillustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the'drawing. As shown in Fig. 2, thewelt feeding arm 46 is in its retracted position at the start of the awlfeed. During the movement of the awl to feed the shoe, as shown in Fig.3, the welt feeding arm 46 is rapidly advanced, forming a bend in thewelt between the upper and lower guides of the bracket 40, and thusdrawing off additional welt from the supply against the moving anchorageprovided by the engagement of the awl inthe work. As the awl is nowwithdrawn from the work, the welt feeding arm 46 is again moved to itsretracted position, giving up the slack welt thus supplied to the work.Slack welt is thu made available during that portion of the stitchforming and work feeding cycle in which the needle and awl are withdrawnfrom the work, and the feeding movement of the shoe is continued solelyby the feeding action of the channel guide, and before the needle entersthe perforation previously formed by the awl, see Fig. 4.

The slack welt thus provided insures the continued even feed of the shoeby the channel guide, so that the work, and more particularly theperforation previously formed by the awl, will be properly located toreceive the descending needle.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiment shown, and that various deviations may be made therefromwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism arranged for continuously feeding the work including awork piercing needle and a work piercing awl movable in the line of workfeed, and an additional work engaging element movable in the line ofwork feed to assist in feeding the work, a welt guide, and anintermittently acting welt pull-off for supplying comparatively slackwelt between the welt supply and the sewing point, the action of thewelt pull-off being timed with relation to the stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism so that said slack welt is available during thatportion of the cycle in which the awl leaves and the needle enters thework.

2. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism arranged for continuously feeding the work, includinga work piercing needle and a work piercing awl movable in the line ofwork feed to alternately feed the work, and an additional work engagingelement movable in the line of work feed to feed the work as the awl iswithdrawn and the needle enters the work, a welt guide, and anintermittently acting welt pull-off for supplying comparatively slackwelt between the welt supply and the sewing point, the action of thewelt pull-oft being timed with relation to the stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism so that said slack welt is available during thatportion of the cycle in which the awl leaves and the needle enters thework.

3. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism arranged for continuously feeding the work including awork piercing needle and a work piercing awl located at the same side ofthe work and movable in the line of shoe feed, and a channel guidemovable in the line of shoe feed to assist in feeding the work, a weltguide, and means for automatically slackening the welt between the Weltguide and the welt supply during the awl feed and prior to thewithdrawal of the awl from the work.

4. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism arranged for continuously feeding the work including awork piercing needle and a work piercing awl movable in the line of workfeed, and a work engaging element movable with the needle to assist infeeding the work, a welt guide, a welt pull-off, and means for actuatingthe pulloff to intermittently pull and slacken the welt during thatportion of the sewing cycle when the awl is feeding the work so thatslack welt is available at the sewing point as the awl leaves and theneedle enters the work.

5. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and shoefeeding mechanism arranged for continuously feeding the work andincluding a work piercing needle and a work piercing awl movable in theline of work feed, and. a shoe supporting element movable with theneedle to feed the work, a stop mechanism for the machine including acontinuously reciprocated idling stop lever, a welt guide, and a weltpull-off between the welt guide and the welt supply and connected withthe machine stop lever, said pull-off acting during the awl feed toprovide slack welt which is then available at the sewing point when theneedle enters the work.

6. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch formin and shoefeeding mechanism arranged for continuously feeding the work including awork piercing needle and a work piercing awl mounted at the same side ofthe work for movement along the line of work feed, and a channel guidemovable with the needle to assist in feeding the work, a welt guide,welt guiding devices between the welt guide and the welt supply, and awelt pull-01f engaging the welt between the guiding devices, a stopmechanism for the machine including a stop motion lever having acontinuously reciprocatory idling movement, and a connection between thestop lever and the welt pull-off for intermittently reciprocating thepull-01f to pull and to slacken the welt while the awl is engaged in thework.

ALFRED R. MORRILL.

